Secularism is in the Blood of Every Indian; V-P Naidu Voices Against Hate Speech

By Verghese V Joseph –

Kottayam: Expressing displeasure at the recent incidents over hate speech against other religions, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday expressed his strong disapproval of such acts and said every person has the right to practise and preach his or her faith in the country.

Speaking at an event organised to mark the 150th death anniversary of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a spiritual leader and social reformer from the Kerala Catholic community, at Mannanam the Vice President said, “Practise your religion but don’t abuse and indulge in hate speech and writings.”

Stating that hate speeches and writings are against culture, heritage, traditions, constitutional rights and ethos, Mr Naidu said secularism is in the blood of every Indian and the country is respected world-over for its culture and heritage.

Mr Naidu emphasised that the philosophy of share-and-care is at the core of India’s age-old culture and must be widely propagated. “For us, the whole world is one family as encapsulated in our timeless ideal, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. It is with this spirit that we should move forward together”, he said.

Paying tributes to Saint Chavara, he said “this iconic spiritual and social leader of Kerala, whom people considered as a saint during his lifetime, was a true visionary in every sense of the term”. He said that Saint Chavara engaged himself as a spiritual, educational, social, and cultural reformer of Kerala society in the 19th century and contributed richly to the social reawakening of the people.

Stating that Saint Chavara contributed immensely to achieving communal harmony and tolerance in society, Mr Naidu said that he always showed a deep concern for the wellbeing of all and taught us that peaceful human relationships are sacred and more important than anything else. “Today, we need a Chavara in every community—a towering individual with a vision to unite all sections of society socially and culturally, and take the country forward”, he stressed.

Urging all states to take a cue from Kerala in the fields of education, social justice and women’s empowerment, the Vice President said that every state can be transformed into an engine of growth and progress which can be achieved through the social and educational empowerment of women and youth belonging to poorer sections of society.

Though the identity and vision of Saint Chavara were shaped and formed on the ideals of his Catholic faith, his deeds of social and educational services were not restricted to the progress and development of that community alone. At the beginning of the 19th century, with a firm belief in inclusivity, he started a Sanskrit school at Mannanam in 1846, which shows his open-mindedness of vision. Through this bold and unconventional move, he opened up access to Sanskrit to aspiring candidates of all castes, genders and religions. Thus, the Sanskrit School showcased an ideal pluralistic community whose members were brought together by a shared desire to learn.

Another path-breaking initiative was the concept of pallikoodam which translated into the setting up of a school alongside every parish church. Such schools initiated in 1864 were open also to children from all communities. The students who received basic education at these schools were also given mid-day meal. This practice had a great impact on the educational efforts at that time as it encouraged the parents to enrol their children in the school.

Saint Chavara contributed immensely to achieving communal harmony and tolerance in society. Being a person with an affable disposition and endowed with simplicity and kindness, he won friends from all walks of life. He always showed a deep concern for the wellbeing of all. Importantly, Chavara taught us that peaceful human relationships are sacred and more important than anything else. Today, we need a Chavara in every community—a towering individual with a vision to unite all sections of society socially and culturally, and take the country forward.

Chavara’s spirituality was in harmony with his vision of science and technology for the common masses. St. Joseph’s Press, established by Chavara here in the year 1846, the first non-government press in Kerala is a good example. It was not a mere setting up of the press. His print house with indigenised technology broke the European monopoly over printing. The printing machine which played a key role in dissemination of knowledge to the common masses conveyed a message to the people—to take pride in self-reliance and be vocal about local.

In the domain of women’s empowerment, with his farsightedness, Saint Chavara provided opportunities for female education and self-reliance by establishing the Carmelite convents and various self-employment training schemes in the mid-19th century. The first task of the nuns was to educate the girls in the region. The formation of edukantat (boarding house) in 1868 was another milestone initiative for realizing this purpose. Women increasingly came forward to join this program which was to bring about a path-breaking social revolution in the years to come. They were taught Malayalam, Tamil, English and Latin. Also, they were trained in various skills like rosary-making, flower-making, sewing, knitting, cooking, music, mathematics and needle work.

Saint Chavara believed that every individual had the right to an honourable life irrespective his/her caste, creed or gender. He also believed that old age, ill-health, poverty and destitution should not deprive anyone of the right to live in joy and die in peace. Thus, he paved the way in 1869 to start a Dharamshala or upavisala (home for the destitute) at Kainakary in Alappuzha district.  Another humanitarian step was the pidiyari (handful of rice) movement, a unique resource mobilization and public distribution system which encouraged people to save a handful (pidi) of rice from their everyday provision for the starving and needy.

Chavara had a passion for learning and reading. He was a scholar in several languages including Sanskrit, English and Portuguese. Chavara treated literature as a powerful means of energising people and his writings are rich in poetic flavour replete with profound spiritual and mystical insights.

As a reformer of families, he wrote authoritatively long before the development of behavioural science about family life: Testament of a loving Father -Oru Nalla Appante Chaavarul- contains tenets for building strong, deep family bonds. The foremost among his appeals in this work was, “a day you have not helped another person shall not be counted in your life”.

Saint Chavara’s accomplishments are many—among them is the founding, along with fellow-priests, of the first Christian indigenous religious congregation for men here at Mannanam known today as Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) on 11thMay 1831 and a religious congregation for women called Congregation of Mother Carmel (CMC) on 13 February 1866.

Saint Chavara combined the spirit of the renaissance with the mission of charity and noble Christian concept of universal brotherhood. I am happy that the involvement of these congregations in the educational and health fields in the South as well as in North India has grown from strength to strength fulfilling the vision of their founder.

Stating that Saint Chavara contributed immensely to achieving communal harmony and tolerance in society, Mr Naidu said that he always showed a deep concern for the wellbeing of all and taught us that peaceful human relationships are sacred and more important than anything else.

“Today, we need a Chavara in every community—a towering individual with a vision to unite all sections of society socially and culturally, and take the country forward,” he stressed.

Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri V Muraleedharan, Minister for Cooperation and Registration, Government of Kerala, Shri V N Vasavan, former Chief Minister of Kerala and Member of Legislative Assembly, Shri Oommen Chandy, Member of Parliament, Shri Thomas Chazhikadan, Prior General, Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, Shri Rev. Fr. Thomas Chathamparampil and other senior priests and nuns were present on the occasion.